Weapon interface system evaluator

Abstract

A weapon interface system evaluator and method for testing weapon carriage assemblies used with weapons and ejectors on military aircraft. The evaluator system is adapted for interfacing with a standard weapon system avionics box that responds to the aircraft's computer via a standard MIL. SPEC. data bus. The evaluator is easily deployed at forward military operating bases and under various temperature and weather extremes.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An apparatus for evaluating an operational status of a weapon interface system for coupling an aircraft controller to a plurality of weapon systems and a corresponding plurality of weapon ejectors, the weapon interface system having a weapon system interface unit, a power switching unit, and a power distribution box, the weapon system interface unit being coupled to the power switching unit and the distribution box and having a first port for communicating with the aircraft controller and a second port for communicating with one of the plurality of weapon systems, the power switching unit being coupled to the weapon system interface unit and to the power distribution box and having a port for communicating with and providing power to the one of the plurality of weapon systems and a corresponding one of the plurality of ejectors, and the power distribution box being coupled to an external power supply, said apparatus comprising: input/output means removably coupled to the first port of the weapon sysem interface unit for generating a first test signal and providing said first test signal to the first port of the weapon system interface;   coupling means for removably coupling the port of the power switching unit to the second port of the weapon system interface unit; and   processing means mounted in the weapon interface system and operatively coupled to the first port of the weapon system interface unit and to a selected portion of the weapon interface system to be tested for generating a second test signal in response to said first test signal and communicating said second test signal to said selected portion to cause said selected portion to communicate a response signal to said processing means corresponding to the state of said selected portion via said coupling means, and for generating an output signal in response to and corresponding to said response signal and communicating said output signal to said input/output means;   said input/output means including means responsive to said output signal for indicating the state of said selected portion.   
     
     
       2. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the input/output means includes an operator interface panel, said operator interface panel having at least one selector for generating the first test signal and at least one indicator for receiving the output signal from the weapon system interface unit and indicating the state of the selected portion in response to the output signal. 
     
     
       3. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the second test signal corresponds to an operational command from the aircraft controller. 
     
     
       4. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the processing means includes a central processing unit. 
     
     
       5. An apparatus as recited in claim 4, wherein the central processor unit is included in the weapon system interface unit. 
     
     
       6. An apparatus as recited in claim 4, wherein the selected portion includes a portion of the weapon system interface unit. 
     
     
       7. A method for evaluating an operational status of a weapon interface system for coupling an aircraft controller to a plurality of weapon systems and a corresponding plurality of weapon ejectors, the weapon interface system having a weapon system interface unit, a power switching unit, and a power distribution box, the weapon system interface unit being coupled to the power switching unit and to the distribution box and having a first port for communicating with the aircraft controller and a second port for communicating with one of the plurality of weapon systems, the power switching unit being coupled to the weapon system interface unit and to the power distribution box and having a port for communicating with and providing power to the one of the pluality of weapon systems and a corresponding one of the plurality of ejectors, and the power distribution boxy being coupled to an external power supply, said method comprising: coupling an input/output device to the first port of the weapon system interface unit;   generating a first test signal and providing said first test signal to the first port of the weapon system interface unit using the input/output device;   providing a processing device in the weapon interface system;   generating a second test signal using the processing device in response to said first test signal and communicating said second test signal to a selected portion of the weapon interface system to cause said selected portion to communicate a response signal to said processing device corresponding to the state of said selected portion;   generating an output signal using said processing device in response to and corresponding to said response signal and communicating said output signal to said input/output device; and   indicating the state of said selected portion using said input/output device in response to said output signal.   
     
     
       8. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein the selected portion includes a portion of the weapon system interface unit. 
     
     
       9. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein the selected portion includes a portion of the power switching unit. 
     
     
       10. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein said method further includes: coupling the port of the power switching unit to the second port of the weapon system interface unit;   operatively coupling the processing device to the second port of the weapon system interface unit; and   selecting the selected portion to cause the response signal to be communicated to the second port of the weapon system interface unit via the port of the power switching unit.   
     
     
       11. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein the first test signal corresponds to an operational command from the aircraft controller.